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Potty Training

Hi Mummies,

When is the best time for potty training? You think I can start training Ryden on her potty now that she's 19 months old? Will it cause any anxiety? One time she peed not wearing a diaper and she was so afraid that she cried. Since then I became worried so I stopped training her. How should I potty train correctly?

Many children aren't ready to be potty trained until they are close to 3 years old when daytime bladder control is stronger and more reliable. There are physical and cognitive skills which need to develop before a child is ready to be potty trained.

Your daughter will actually show signs that she's getting ready but do remember that some children who show many signs of readiness may not be physically able to control elimination.

Some of the most common signs are...

- Your child can stay dry for at least 2 hours or during naps, which shows that her bladder muscles are well developed to hold urine.

- Your child can sit quietly in one position for 5 minutes without being entertained.

- Your child doesn't like to be in a wet or dirty nappy.

- Your child tells you when she's dirty.

- Your child doesn't resist when you want her to use the potty.

- Your child knows when she needs to go (even if it's just a few seconds before she goes).

- Takes an interest in the bathroom and in watching you use the lu.

- Will sit on the lu when you place her there without wanting to get down quickly.

I found that it was easier to have my children in nappies until they were close to 3 - much easier when out and about, to change a nappy rather than to find a bathroom so for me, I wasn't in any hurry to potty train. But when they were close to 3, or they turned 3, I was able to train them in a day.

My last child showed signs of readiness when she was closer to 2 1/2, but she was the only one of 5 that did... and so she trained earlier than the others.

Here's a great article on how to train in just one day. This is a great plan because it avoids accidents and frustration for both mum and child.

Wow I'm grateful for this Kate, I just learned that Ryden isn't really ready yet. She's still not showing the signs that you have mentioned. Maybe I was just a little excited for the potty training. So for now, I'll let her be and won't be pushing her hard on this. I just realized she's really too young for this. Thanks for the article, this is a great help!

I am so obsessed to have my kid potty trained to reduce buying nappies. He's 2 now and still afraid to use the toilet seat. I bought him his own potty seat with his favorite character but he's still not ready to use it. How can I make my kid try it?

I know that nappies can be costly, but unfortunately there may be little you can do until your child is developmentally ready. If a child cannot hold his urine for very long, and if he doesn't recognize that he needs to go, he's simply not going to be able to use the potty.

When you look at the list I posted above about signs that tell you that your child is developmentally ready to be trained, which of those things can your child do?

If you feel your child is developmentally ready to be trained, then let me know and I'll give you some suggestions on how to train him.

I want to share my opinion with you. I also want my daughter (21 months) try to use the potty, but it?s rather difficult. She shows the most of those signs, but I decided not to force her to do that. She will use it anyway, when she would be ready.

I've been reading the thread above on potty training as my 2.5 year old is starting to be toilet trained.

I am wondering how long your child took to be toilet trained? We are not in a rush - I am just interested.

My son first started to ask to sit on the toilet (he doesn't seem to like the potty so just has a child's toilet sit which fits onto the toilet) when he was around 2 years old. By the time he was around 26 months he was doing all his poos in the toilet (including if we are out somewhere). However, he doesn't seem to ask to do a wee in the toilet. I want to take a very gentle approach and not rush him before he is ready. I do give him lots of praise and encouragement when he uses the toilet, and I don't say anything negative about the nappies.

Like some of the mums above, I also have trouble potty training my 3 year old daughter. We got her a potty chair with Dora The Explorer designs on it so it would hopefully encourage her to use it more. She had successfully used it twice. First one was when I let her sit on it for almost an hour. She sat there while I kept her entertained by letting her watch her favorite shows on the iPad. But she has been inconsistent as to when she wants to go potty. Sometimes it's already too late when she says she needs to go and already got her nappies dirty. The second time she used her potty chair successfully was without my knowledge. I didn't even see her on it since I was busy in the kitchen. When I came back, she had her nappies off, was carrying her potty chair and trying to dump her pee into the lu. I was really surprised. She didn't ask me for help. But then the usual days are just her telling me she already done it and she just needs help changing her nappies. Is there any way to encourage her from doing it consistently and more often?

My 2 year old daughter is still not ready for the potty or toilet. But we have problems with the nappy too. She never wants me to change the nappies. We fight and scream, and other problems. Can you suggest me an easy way to change her nappies?

Please be reassured that most two year olds are not yet developmentally ready to be toilet trained.

Also, it is very normal for a young child to protest when it comes to having their nappy changed. You could try reserving a particularly silly song for nappy change times so she enjoys them more. Some parents find that allowing their child to play with a certain special toy only at nappy changing times works well.

I can emphasise with you as my youngest son (who is 15 months) is very active and screams if you lay him down to change his nappy. I don't want him to find it distressing so we now change his nappy with him standing up in the bathroom. I have developed a quick bottom wiping technique! Sometimes we use pull up nappies to make it easier too.